Athletics: Foot injury is no problem for Jessica Ennis

JESSICA ENNIS has quashed fears that a foot injury which has kept her out of competitive action since the end of January will prevent her challenging for the World Indoor pentathlon title next weekend.

JESSICA ENNIS has quashed fears that a foot injury which has kept her out of competitive action since the end of January will prevent her challenging for the World Indoor pentathlon title next weekend.

Ennis (below) admits her preparations have not been perfect because of the problem, and could hinder her bid to add another gold medal to the world heptathlon crown she won last summer in Berlin.

But the 24-year-old insists she can strongly challenge Beijing Olympic medallists Nataliya Dobrynska, Haylea Fountain and Tatyana Chernova, who are expected to be her main rivals in Doha.

Ennis, who missed the 2008 Games after suffering a serious multiple stress fracture in her right foot, decided as a precaution to have an MRI scan shortly after competing at the Aviva International Match in Glasgow in January.

The Sheffield athlete erred on the side of caution in having the scan as the problem was in the same leg which wrecked her Olympic ambitions, but she revealed it was unlikely to prevent her competing in her first ever World Indoor Championships.

Ennis, who withdrew from meetings in Sheffield and Birmingham, said: “Basically I slightly strained a ligament in my foot, had scans on it and every thing’s fine with the structure of my foot, bar a slight bit of fluid on the ligament.

“The bones are fine and everything like that. But I had to just stay away from high impact training for a week and a half. Obviously I was still training, but had to reduce a little bit.

“I had another scan and it’s really looking good, no pain, and I’m back up to full training and preparing well for Doha.”

Ennis insisted she is just short of 100 per cent fitness and added: “I just had to stay off the high jumping and hurdling. I was just doing sessions on the bike and in the gym, but staying away from high impact for a bit.

“I honestly don’t feel like I’ve lost any fitness. The way I was performing before I had this foot niggle, I was in great shape.”